Author: Chaltikian Arsine

Confident Turkey stroll past Armenia
UEFA.com
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Match report by Türker Tozar

Turkey advanced to the play-offs in style by putting four unanswered
goals past Armenia at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium to win Group 2 by four
points from Ukraine.

Karabulut key
Beþiktaþ JK striker Batuhan Karadeniz’s double and Eren Güngör’s
strike gave the hosts a 3-0 half-time lead before Özer Hurmacý added
the final flourish in the 56th minute. Beþiktaþ’s Aydýn Karabulut, who
had scored twice against the Czech Republic in last Friday’s
top-of-the-table showdown, played a key role here too with no fewer
than three assists.

Karadeniz delivers
Turkey dominated the entire game with the visitors showing little
resistance to the home side’s charge. Karadeniz broke the deadlock
midway through the opening period and, following Güngör’s goal, he
added his second moments before half-time. Hurmacý completed the
scoring as Turkey cruised into the play-offs.

Trophy dream
Coach Hami Mandýralý said: "We wanted to win the match because we had
lost the reverse fixture. My players showed their ability and their
spirit, and we got the victory. Our aim now is to be successful in the
play-offs and to reach the finals in Sweden – in fact, not only to
reach them but also to take home the trophy. We have enough
quality. If we can go there with a full-strength squad, we’ll be able
to show what Turkish players can do."

WRITER TO FACE PROSECUTION UNDER 301

Today’s Zaman
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin has allowed the prosecution of
a writer under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for his
remarks at a press conference following the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink.

Writer Temel Demirer was already facing charges over insulting
Turkishness under Article 301 and with Å~^ahin’s decision, the case
is set to continue.

The EU criticized Turkey for not amending Article 301, under which
a number of intellectuals and activists, including Turkey’s Nobel
Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, have landed in court for "insulting
Turkishness." In an annual progress report released in early November
of last year, the European Commission proposed not opening accession
talks on one of the 35 negotiating chapters until Turkey amends or
repeals Article 301.

An amendment made to Article 301, which previously criminalized
"insulting Turkishness" and has long been seen as an obstacle to
freedom of speech in Turkey, made it obligatory for prosecutors to
secure approval from the Justice Ministry before launching cases on
301-related charges. It was hoped that the amendment, adopted in May
of this year, would make legal prosecution of writers and intellectuals
more difficult.

Following the amendment to the article, the court halted the legal
process on Demirer’s case.

Demirer is facing a jail sentence from one year and six months to
five years under the amended Article 301.

The unamended version of the article was also seen by some circles as
being responsible for the death of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, who was shot dead outside his office in Ä°stanbul in January
2007 by an ultra-nationalist teenager. Dink became a target after
301-related charges were brought against him by ultra-nationalist
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, his friends, lawyers and other intellectuals
argued. An investigation into the Ergenekon crime network has created
the suspicion that Dink’s murder was planned by groups and individuals
with links to the state.

–Boundary_(ID_dovymnO/4efIfwbhZ8wNuw)–

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2008

Turkish President’s Visit to Yerevan Shakes Entire Turkic World
06.09.08 11:51

Azerbaijan, Baku, 6 September /corr. Trend News R.Hafizoglu /
Federation of Turkish-Azerbaijani Communities condemned Turkish
President Abdulla Gul’s visit to Yerevan.

The Head of Federation of Turkish-Azerbaijani communities, MP Yuchel
Artantash, said: `President’s visit made the Armenians glad, but shook
the Turkic world supporting Azerbaijan,’ Turkish Anadolu agency
reported.

`Any citizen who supports Azerbaijan and is familiar with the
veritable face of the Armenians must protest against this visit,’
Artantash said. The Turkish MP also said that the friendship bridge
suggested by the Armenians exists by 24 April – day of fictional
`genocide’.

`The Armenians, who is enmity with the Turks, claimed for Turkic
lands, occupied territory of Azerbaijan, can not be friends. And
therefore, I call upon all to protest against Abdulla Gul’s visit to
Yerevan,’ Artantash said.

AFTER A 4,000 KM DETOUR, ECUMENICAL DELEGATION TO REACH SOUTH OSSETIA

COE (Communiqués de presse
/index/pr-08-76.html
Sept 5 2008
Switzerland

A pastoral delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to
Georgia and Russia has not been able to visit South Ossetia from the
Georgian side of the ceasefire line. Unable to make the half-hour drive
to Tskhinvali from within Georgia, they are now traveling thousands
of kilometers to reach the enclave from the Russian side instead.

The ecumenical delegation could not get a guarantee of safe passage
from the authorities inside South Ossetia. The route should by
now be a corridor for aid, but the humanitarian access stipulated
by the ceasefire agreement in mid-August is apparently not being
honored. Armed groups are accused of acts of violence in the area.

Government and aid officials in Georgia told the WCC group that up
to 7,000 ethnic Georgians are still living in South Ossetia under
uncertain conditions. Even the Red Cross has largely been denied
access, they said, but the Georgian Orthodox Church has limited access
to a few of them.

Early in the war, with help from the Russian Orthodox Church, Georgian
Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II secured permission to visit a bishop and
a few priests and nuns who have stayed in South Ossetia. Since then
the church has brought in food and brought out Georgian casualties
that were still lying unburied several days after the war.

"We want to express our immense gratitude that you have come in the
difficult situation Georgia is facing now," the Georgian Patriarch
told the WCC delegation.

"Be assured we are with you at this difficult time," said Archbishop
Nifon of Targoviste, Romania, the delegation head. "We have been
following the situation in your country with great sorrow," said
Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European
Churches. "At the same time, we are greatly impressed by your visit
to South Ossetia and by the public declarations in favor of peace by
the two patriarchates of Russia and Georgia."

"Russia is our neighbour and we should have good relations with it,"
Ilia noted.

In Georgia the WCC delegation also met Armenian Orthodox and Baptist
leaders, a member of parliament and a government minister responsible
for refugees, the country’s public defender, member agencies of Action
by Churches Together (ACT) International and displaced people living
in camps and schools.

Humanitarian situation

About two-thirds of the 150,000 people displaced into Georgia by the
conflict have now returned to their homes. Most of the nearly 50,000
still displaced are housed in school buildings. Even as more durable
solutions become urgent, ACT member agencies and local church aid
workers told the WCC delegation of many gaps in meeting immediate
needs.

"With schools in Georgia scheduled to open in one week, the people
we met do not know what will happen next," said Rev. Laszlo Lehel,
director of Hungarian Inter-Church Aid and representing ACT on the
delegation. Some 26,000 of these people are from South Ossetia,
with little immediate prospect of returning home.

Lia Gogitze, a woman from South Ossetia living in a Tbilisi school,
told the delegation, "We lived so well there with our orchards
and livestock. It was like a small paradise. Here we share one
cup." Satellite photos show her village, Kemerti, as one of dozens
of communities in the enclave heavily damaged by fire in the days
since the major fighting ceased.

To visit the enclave the delegation is making a 4,000-kilometer detour
via Moscow and North Ossetia. When they reach the South Ossetian
capital, Tskhinvali, they will be just 40 kilometers from where they
were on their first day in Georgia.

In South Ossetia the ecumenical visitors will meet with church leaders,
local officials and the recently displaced residents who have now
mostly returned from North Ossetia. Also of concern are the ethnic
Georgian residents still thought to be in the enclave after weeks of
violence and many reports of looting, arson and forced evictions.

The trip will end in Moscow with visits to the Russian Orthodox Church
and the government. In addition to Nifon, de Clermont and Lehel,
the delegation includes Rev. Elenora Giddings-Ivory and Mr. Jonathan
Frerichs from the WCC secretariat in Geneva.

Media contact in Georgia/Russia: +41-79-814-5637

More information on the visit:
ement/eng/a/article/1722/wcc-delegation-visits-ge. html

Action by Churches Together response to the conflict:
/UpCaucasus-1-08.html

–Boundary_(ID_4u6b4x0XY6V1 X+yHE5uq/Q)–

SECRETARIES OF CSTO SECURITY COUNCILS DISCUSS MILITARY-POLITICAL SITUATION IN REGION

Interfax
Sept 3 2008
Russia

The Committee of Secretaries of the Security Councils of the
member-states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) met
in Yerevan on Wednesday to discuss trends in the military-political
situation in the organization’s responsibility area, measures to
neutralize challenges and threats to collective security in the region,
as well as progress in the implementation of decisions made at the
CSTO Collective Security Council sessions in Minsk and Dushanbe.

Armenian National Security Council Secretary Artur Bagdasarian took up
the rotating chairmanship of the committee at the session in Yerevan.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Bagdasarian said the
participants in the session had considered a set of documents aimed at
building an efficient system of collective response to new challenges
and threats.

These challenges and threats are "so serious now that a clear-cut
action plan needs to be developed," Bagdasarian said.

"In particular, this concerns the establishment of a possible center
to counter these challenges and threats, the building of a structure
of special services within the CSTO framework, and there is also
a proposal that a similar structure be formed between the interior
ministries from the member-states," he said.

The CSTO is comprised of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

POST-SOVIET SECURITY BLOC BACKS RUSSIA OVER GEORGIA ARMS EMBARGO

RIA Novosti
16:59 | 03/ 09/ 2008

YEREVAN, September 3 (RIA Novosti) – Heads of the security councils of
a post-Soviet security bloc have backed a Russian proposal to impose
an arms embargo on Georgia, the head of the Russian Security Council
said on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow
would like to see the imposition of an embargo on arms supplies to
Georgia until a change of leadership takes place in the Caucasus state.

"We are against arming [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili’s
regime, and creating preconditions for the genocide of this or another
ethnic group," Nikolai Patrushev said following a session of the heads
of the security councils of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) in Yerevan, Armenia.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a security grouping
comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

"We know that a number of countries had been supplying arms to Georgia
and Saakashvili, and that the country’s military budget had increased
by more than 30 times. It is clear that they were preparing for it
[military conflict]," Patrushev said.

South Ossetia was attacked by Georgian forces on August 8. The
majority of residents of South Ossetia hold Russian citizenship,
and Moscow launched a massive operation to expel Georgian troops from
the region and to reinforce its peacekeepers.

According to information provided last month by the Russian General
Staff, since 2005, Georgian tank numbers increased from 98 to 183,
armored vehicles from 83 to 134, artillery weapons from 96 to 238,
combat helicopters from three to nine, and warplanes from seven
to nine.

"We cannot but be concerned that humanitarian aid [to Georgia]
is delivered by [NATO] warships equipped with modern weapons,"
Patrushev said.

Tensions between Russia and the West have been heightened further
by the build up in the Black Sea of U.S. and NATO naval vessels
delivering humanitarian aid to Georgia. In an apparent response,
Russia last week sent a group of warships, including the Moskva
missile cruiser, to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.

The U.S. has staunchly supported its ally Georgia throughout the
crisis and has sent millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the
South Caucasus state. Russia has however expressed concern over the
aid shipments, saying that it suspects they could include arms. The
U.S. has denied the allegation.

Patrushev also said that the security organization backed Russia’s
response to the Georgian military offensive in South Ossetia.

"The heads of the CSTO security councils have also backed Russia’s
measures, just like the SCO members did earlier… There is no doubt
that the Georgians deliberately started the war," he said.

China and the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO) voiced their support last month for Russia’s actions in regard
to Georgia and South Ossetia following the recent conflict.

The security bloc, seen as a counterweight to NATO’s influence in
Eurasia, comprises China, Russia, and four Central Asian states –
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

However, the Asian countries stopped short of backing Russia’s move
to recognize the independence of the breakaway province, along with
Georgia’s other rebel region, Abkhazia.

Russia officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia last week despite Western warnings, saying the move was
needed to protect the regions.

Meanwhile, Yury Zhadobin, the state secretary of the Belarusian
Security Council, told journalists on Wednesday that the issue of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia joining the Union State of Russia and Belarus was
likely to be discussed Thursday at a meeting of CSTO foreign ministers.

DEPARTURE TERMINAL UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT IN YEREVAN

ARKA
Sep 1, 2008

YEREVAN, September 1. /ARKA/. New passenger terminal of the Yerevan
International Airport "Zvartnots" may become a leader in Europe,
the Head of Armenia’s Civil Aviation General Department Artem
Movsisyan said.

The next stage after the arrival terminal is construction of a
departure terminal that has already started, he told journalists. The
construction will be completed by 2010 and will include "new
interesting and extraordinary solutions", Movsisyan said.

He added that development of Armenian aviation will be discussed during
the 57th special session of the European Civil Aviation Conference
(ECAC) held in Yerevan. The session will consider the results of
the inspections held by the ECAC in Armenia. Movsisyan pointed out
that the ECAC provided quite a good conclusion on the development of
Armenian aviation.

Fifty representative of aviation authorities from 40 ECAC-member
countries participate in the ECAC session in Yerevan that will
finish today. The participants discuss European aviation development
air-navigation safety issues, as well as reduction of emissions having
environmental effects.

Armenia joined the ECA in 1996.

BIDEN NO STRANGER TO NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATS
By John Froonjian

Press of Atlantic City, NJ
Aug 27 2008

DENVER – In 2005, then-Gov. Richard J. Codey and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden
went to the same New Jersey political function. Biden’s cufflinks
impressed one of Codey’s aides.

"They were Senate cufflinks," Codey said. "My aide said, ‘Senator,
can I see those cufflinks?’"

Biden removed them and gave them to the staffer as a gift. Codey,
D-Essex, the state Senate president who will resume the governor’s
seat this afternoon until Jon S. Corzine returns from Denver on Monday,
later pulled his aide aside.

"Now he thinks I’m going to endorse him for president," Codey said.

When Biden addresses the Democratic National Convention tonight to
accept the vice presidential nomination, he will be more than just
another national figure to New Jersey convention delegates.

Many state officials, particularly those in the southern part of the
state, have established personal relationships with him since he became
a Delaware senator in 1973. They shared stories about Biden on Tuesday.

Delegate Damon Tyner, of Egg Harbor Township, first met Biden in
1981, when Tyner was 11. He attended a fundraiser in Teaneck for
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg with his father, Hank Tyner, at one time
an Atlantic City Councilman.

Biden spoke for more an hour. When he was done he looked directly
at the young Tyner and said, "I give you a lot of credit," Tyner
recounted. "You’re the only one here – adults and children included –
who did not fall asleep."

June Fischer, of Scotch Plains, has known Biden for decades, first
encountering him in Atlantic City when Biden met the New Jersey State
Committee in the mid-1970s.

In 1986, when Fischer ran a campaign against seven-term Republican
U.S. Rep. Matt Rinaldo, Biden campaigned for her. She returned the
favor two years later, flying to Iowa and New Hampshire in the winter
during his short-lived 1988 presidential campaign,.

When she saw him Monday, Fischer said proudly, Biden gave a hug and
kiss to the Democratic national committeewoman.

U.S. Rep Rob Andrews, D-1st, is one of many officials who have met
Biden commuting to Washington on an Amtrak train. Biden travels to
the capital every workday. Andrews said their conversations span
many topics.

"(Whether) you talk about what your kids are doing or legislation
you’re working on, he’s interested."

Andrews said Biden talks a lot about his son, Beau Biden, Delaware’s
Attorney General and a U.S. Army Reserve captain headed to Iraq on
Oct. 3. But Andrews said they just as easily could talk about the
Mets and Phillies or Russia’s presence in Georgia.

Andrew’s predecessor, former Gov. Jim Florio, also used to see Biden
board the same commuter train in Wilmington. Florio was chairman
of the House transportation committee, and an Amtrak facility was a
major employer in Wilmington.

"We would talk about substantial things, often about railroads,"
Florio said.

But he said Biden came to southern New Jersey frequently, often to
campaign for little-known candidates.

Cumberland County Democratic Chairman Lou Magazzu said he walked up
and introduced himself to Biden in 1998.

"I thought it would be a two-minute hello. But he invited me to sit
down and talk," Magazzu said.

As a county freeholder, Magazzu was lobbying to have Cumberland County
designated a federal urban empowerment zone. But Biden gave him bad
news: he was pushing for Wilmington to get the same designation.

"We were in competition with them," Magazzu said. "But he said if we
prevailed, he would help us."

Cumberland did win the designation. And Magazzu said Biden has been
there to help whenever funds were threatened.

As the two became friendly, Magazzu got Biden to speak at a county
fundraiser several years ago. Biden flew in on a helicopter that
landed at the old Kroelinger airfield in Vineland and mesmerized a
room by speaking on international affairs for 45 minutes without notes.

Biden asked for Magazzu’s support when he ran for president this
year. Despite their friendship, Magazzu told Biden he was under
pressure to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., with the rest
of the state party. He said Biden’s response was unexpectedly generous.

"He said he wouldn’t ask a guy to go against his state’s political
structure and do something adverse to his interests," Magazzu said.

"That said a lot about the guy. He knew I had a political obligation
to him, and he discharged me of it without me even asking," he said.

Corzine said he has a close relationship with Biden, who has worked
on New Jersey issues such as Delaware River projects and Amtrak.

"There were three senators who came to my inauguration," Corzine
said. "And Joe Biden was one of them."

He said Biden, as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, helped
him pass the Armenian genocide recognition act he cosponsored.

Former Gov. Brendan Byrne recalled Biden giving him good news when
they attended a dinner in Cumberland County when Byrne ran for governor
in 1977.

The new state income tax made Byrne unpopular. But Biden told him
not to worry.

Byrne said Biden had access to an internal party poll of which Byrne
was unaware, and he told him he was going to win.

"He really is a great guy," Byrne said.

$20 MLN ALLOCATED TO ARMENIA UNDER MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES CORPORATION PROGRAM IN JAN-AUG

ARKA
Aug 26, 2008

YEREVAN, August 26. /ARKA/. $20mln was allocated to Armenia in
January-August under Millennium Challenges Corporation program, General
Executive Director of "Millennium Challenges – Armenia Foundation"
state non-commercial organization Ara Hovsepyan told journalists.

A part of these funds has already been used for implementation
of programs, he said adding that the Armenian side is
submitting applications to the Corporation for allocation every
quarter. Applications are discussed at Millennium Challenges
Corporation sittings. The next application is to be submitted in
September for works to be carried out in September-December, Hovsepyan
said adding that the exact amount of the allocation is not known yet.

As to the road construction component of the Millennium Challenges
program, according to the agreement between the Armenian Government
and the Corporation, construction works under the first package
of the program were to be carried out of the state budget proceeds,
Hovsepyan said. According to him, the Government has already allocated
$16.8mln. The corporation funds are expected to come as from January
2009, Hovsepyan said.

Under the agreement of March 27 2006 the Armenian Government is to
receive a $235.65mln grant from Millennium Challenges Corporation
during five years.

The grant means are to be used for reconstruction of rura l roads and
irrigation systems. $108mln is to be allocated for reconstruction of
irrigation systems alone.

$11mln was allocated to Armenia under the Millennium Challenges
Corporation program in 2007.

SECRETARY GENERAL OF EUROPEAN CHURCHES CONFERENCE VISITS ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
Aug 25, 2008

ETCHMIADIZN, AUGUST 25, ARMENPRESS; On August 23 a delegation, led by
Kolin Williams, secretary general of the European Churches Conference,
arrived on an official visit in Armenia.

The department of information of the Holy See Mother Etchmiadzin told
Armenpress that on August 24 the delegation members were present at a
holy liturgy and a ceremony of bishops ordination. They also visited
the Holy See’s museums, other churches and historical structures.

Today the delegation was received by Catholicos Karekin II, head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church. Karekin II was reported to express his
pleasure on the cooperation between the Armenian Church and European
Churches Conference focusing also on the need of forging closer ties.

The head of the Armenian Church spoke on challenges faced by Armenian
Church, the current status of the Church and its relations with
the government.